The Maurine Dickerson Research Prize is a newly created academic achievement reward. Two research prizes will be awarded annually: one to students in the traditional undergraduate program, and one to undergraduate students in the adult program. The program recognizes students who have written a paper of outstanding quality. A panel of librarians and teaching faculty will judge the submitted works through a blind review process. The award is named in honor of Maurine Dickerson, the first librarian at MidAmerica Nazarene University.

Application Process

Papers must be submitted to Lauren Hays, Instructional and Research Librarian, between April 1 and April 15, 2013. The papers can be sent via e-mail or delivered in person. Submissions should include a brief description of the paper and information about the class in which it was written, including the professor’s name, the title of the paper, and the name of the student. (The title of the paper should be present on the submitted paper, but the student’s name should not be on the work.) Contact Lauren Hays with any questions (913-971-3561).

Selection Criteria

Eligible participants are current traditional undergraduate students, and current undergraduate students in the professional program, who have used library resources to write a paper. The submitted work must have been written for a class taught at MidAmerica Nazarene University during the current academic year.

The submitted papers will be judged by three criteria:

Use of Library Resources: The paper will be evaluated on the use of appropriate library resources for the topic.

Writing Quality: The paper will be evaluated on the use of grammar and the quality of the writing.

Caliber of Research: The paper will be evaluated on the depth and breadth of the research.

Award

Each winner will receive a $250 cash prize and a certificate of recognition. The prizes will be presented at the Awards Chapel. We extend our sincere thanks to James and Carol Garrison, who have generously underwritten the cash prize to be awarded to the undergraduate students in the adult program.